A Journey Round My Skull

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January 20, 2018

I'm making postcards of my favorite images from the archives -- vintage oddities and also the work of the living. (The creators were kind enough to give permission.) Contribute $10 and receive a postcard pack as a thank you.

The first set of 10 designs (the "December 2017 edition") is now gone. Thanks! The February 2018 is now available.

Postcard Pack 1.2 (Feb 2018 edition)

Image: Preview of 8 of the 10 cards in the February 2018 postcard pack. Includes work by

March 11, 2015

I try not to think about how much I would pay for a copy of Hilde Krüger's 1924 children's book Der Widiwondelwald. Some links (in German): one, two, three -- see the full book as smaller images at the last link to the kibook blog.

January 1, 2014

Bookseller's description: "[AVANT-GARDE POETRY] HINO Shunsuke. Shishû SEKIJI NO KUBI WO KIRU. Tôkyô, Erosu-dô. Shôwa 4 [1929]. 18.5 x 12.7, bound Western-style in wrappers with illustrated covers, book design and illustrations throughout by Iguchi Masao. A product of the Nagoya avant-garde. The illustrations and design of this "CUTTING THE BABY'S THROAT" are jarring, some of the poems sound and feel like they were written while falling down a flight of stairs. The paper is browned and some pages a bit edgeworn but a very good copy overall of this ephemeral production."

January 23, 2013

Most of these works by Bettina von Arnim (b. 1940) come from Galerie Poll, though I have trouble navigating to them directly from their website. The rest come from expired auction listings. I gave titles when I could find them. I would love to see more of her work (and proper reproductions).

Not related (as far as I know) to previous poster-boys of this blog, Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim (unlike this Bettina von Arnim).

update: Thomas Kümmel (@klbkultur on twitter) left a comment about the artist. Thank you!

Bettina von Arnim (born 1940 at Zernikow) is related to the widely branching noble lineage "von Arnim" although it is not easy to trace her roots.

She is the daughter of Friedmund and Clara von Arnim. Her parents managed the family estate "Gut Zernikow" until it was expropriated by the Soviets. They then fled Eastern Germany for West Berlin in 1945.

Her father, Friedmund von Arnim, was a great-grandchild of Ludwig Achim and Bettina von Arnim (German writer and novelist, Countess of Arnim and sister of Clemens Bretano). Friedmund von Arnim died as a prisoner of war in Russia in January 1946. Her mother, Clara von Arnim, died on May 7, 2009 at the age of 99.

January 10, 2013

BibliOdyssey mentioned this one way back in 2008 but I keep coming across it and had to feature it. The scans are by flickr user Tomasz and the book is called... W Krainie Karzełków, which Google confidently translates as "In the land of dwarfs." I can't find a date. 1940s? And the sig... Ajo?

Book collector Arthur van Kruining cleared up the mystery: "This book is of Dutch origin. The title is DWERGENLAND (1923). "Ajo" was the pseudonym of Henriëtte Fox-Borel. Unfortunately her books are quite rare." Thanks Arthur!

Google translates "Dwergenland" as "Dwarf Country." See more Ajo here.

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I started "A Journey Round My Skull" in 2007 and killed it off in February 2011, transferring most of the archives to a shiny new site, "50 Watts." In December 2011, I revived My Skull as a personal blog.